Star Wars: Battlefront

"Online Review: Can't get enough of this game!"

This review is for the online portion of Star Wars Battlefront ONLY. I will not be discussing the single player or offline multiplayer portions at all. This review is based entirely on the online aspect.

Well I've finally pulled myself away from Star Wars Battlefront, actually I was forced to because there is another patch that I am waiting to download :(

As I'm sure you've heard by now, the PS2 version is the worst of the 3 versions, the other two being Xbox and PC. While I can't vouch for that statement I know what I've played, and it's very addicting. If this is the worst version I envy everybody with a gaming quality PC or an Xbox.

I'll start by answering the most important question: Does the game lag online? I haven't felt much lag on my cable Internet, but I've certainly felt slow down. The worst slow down seems to come from when a lot of vehicles are in use and shooting up a storm. When there are a lot of regular players confined in one area I experienced noticeable slow down, but it certainly wasn't bad enough to keep me from sniping some rebels.

With that taken care of, lets get down to business. Playing online is very addictive. There are four factions to choose from; The Empire, The Rebel Alliance, Separatists Battle Droids and the Republican Clone Army. You cannot be any faction at any time, the map dictates which sides you are allowed to choose from. This keeps the game historically accurate with the Star Wars series. Unfortunately, there is only one mode of play online which is essentially capture the flag. When the round begins, the map is evenly divided up and the goal is to take over the other teams command posts. To do this you have to move in (preferably, with teamwork) and hold the post until it changes to your colour. Once that is complete its wise to leave some people back to defend it for a little bit while the rest of the team sets out to capture more command posts. It's simple and fun. The games appeal comes from the ability to re-live Star Wars battles, and this game does a fantastic job at it. I'd like to regale you with a story for a moment if I may. I was sniping, as I usually do and I had run out of ammo, this gave me a chance to actually see what was going on from outside of the scope, and it gave me chills. From my vantage point I could see dog fights happening in the air, on the ground a group of Troopers were running along side the AT-AT who was destroying everything in its path. Those speeding jet bike things (don't know their names, not a big Star Wars fan) were flying through the battle at amazing speeds, it actually looked like something straight out of the movies. Until you actually experience it, describing the battles in this game simply doesn't do it justice.

Unfortunately, there are two large problems I have to address. The appeal in these shooter type of games is clan vs. clan matches, competition is what allows games to thrive, and with Star Wars Battlefront, it doesn't look like clan matches will even be an option. When you connect to the Gamespy servers, there is no way to find a specific server, which means there is no way to meet up with other people online. There is no buddy list which means there is no way to find friends online. There is no way to manually enter a server address, which means if you are hosting a server yourself, you can't make it 'clan only' because people won't be able to find it in the server list. If there's no way to congregate together, there's no clan matches. I can only hope they add SOME feature, anything, just to make it possible for people to find each other and play together. Maybe some people will develop a way to meet friends or maybe there already is and I, as well as the many others who have been complaining about this, haven't noticed it.

My second gripe is auto-aim. Never have I played an online shooter where auto-aim was even an option, but with this game it is, and people use it. When you make a server you have the option to turn it on or off, sadly, most of the servers have it on which makes the game too easy. If I'm sniping then already I'm at a huge disadvantage. I'm using skill, everybody else is just firing in my general direction and letting the auto-aim do its thing. This lack of balance is very disappointing indeed.

Bottom line: this game is extremely fun, but it's not perfect. If you're sick of SOCOM or are a Star Wars fan, this game is definitely for you. Hell, even if you're not a Star Wars fan like myself, this game will still suck you in and have you begging for more. Now if you'll excuse me, the patch is done and I'm gonna go play some more.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/22/04